Wednesday coffee and straight talk about gait analysis

Wednesday, December 04, 2013 · Mike Davis

Good morning coffee drinkers! This week has been going great with multiple gait analysis and raising a few dollars for the Krempels Center. Getting people in and video tapping them using the Medical Motion gait analysis system has been a great experience for myself, my partner Lew and more importantly those that are getting the opportunity to learn about their running gait. Most have been amazed to learn about how they actually run compared to their perception of how they run. I am totally right there with all of them in that I most definitely run much different than I envisioned. It is not that people think they are technically perfect, but they are seeing in depth proof that they have some work to do! The Medical Motion gait analysis system is state of the art and there’s nothing that can be hidden if viewed properly. We start with posture, then look at the “stance phase”, followed by the “swing phase” and finally the “double float”. Each phase has additional phases that all come together to make up a runners gait. Understanding how it should look versus how it looks is fairly easy, it is determining the cause that becomes tricky. The experience we have helps to narrow the cause down and from there we have various exercises and stretches that target the problem. Simple right? No, not really, but thankfully we see many of the same problems and that makes it fairly easy for us. That’s not to say that we can’t look at a unique issue and determine the problem, but that takes a little more time. Our intent for this charity event was to do a basic analysis and give some quick suggestions. However, we have been enjoying helping people so much that we have elaborated much more than we planned. I don’t have it in me to give anyone nothing but my best and if that means I spend a few hours watching a single persons videos, then that’s what I do. I want to get it as close to right as possible and that requires taking some time. Understanding what a “normal” running gait is can be the challenge. We can’t simply put up Ryan Hall’s or Kara Goucher’s videos and say; “that’s the goal!” Normal is more based on factors such as; range of motion, posture, propulsion, stride length and much more. We do use video of other runners to demonstrate various movements (good and not so good), but we mostly analyze the variables of a functional gait. Our running technique (gait) derives from many internal and external factors. What we might think is our body’s natural motion might actually be the result of having limited range of motion due to tightness in a particular muscle or joint. Repetitive movements become our norm and that norm isn’t always efficient nor healthy. Analyzing the motion, determining the acceptable ranges of the motion and then breaking down the cause all come into play when trying to understand if our gait is normal. Early in my coaching days I used an IPad App to take video and do some analyzing but despite purchasing every App available I was unable to do much besides show someone a video of themselves in slow motion. These Apps are good for limited functions such as seeing yourself in slower motion but they certainly don’t help to analyze the particulars of the various functions I mentioned. Knowing that from a rear view a runner should not have more than a 2 degree hip drop is essential and having the correct technology to detect and measure it is not something I could get out of an App. The idea to invest in the latest running gait technology came about a couple years ago, but the timing wasn’t right from a financial standpoint and from a knowledge level. As we progressed at NFLR it became clearer to me that to best serve runners of every level we needed to bring in the best technology available to help analyze their running gait. The financial investment while considerable but the investment in the time to learn running gait was even greater. No doubt we will continuously educate ourselves but initially we had to become adept at understanding movement, what is acceptable, cause and effect and much more. I can comfortably analyze video at this point, but I also cheat and use a manual that gives me some reference points and guidance. I don’t like to rush a gait analysis so usually I sit down multiple times over 5 to 7 day period and analyze every step. This can be tedious but for me I really enjoy understanding the running movement. We still have 11 days left on our free gait analysis offer, so take advantage of this great deal! We set up appointments and in 45 minutes or so we give you a whole new prospective on your running. No one has been disappointed yet and we have had a lot of fun with this event. The Krempels Center is the recipient of whatever donations we might take in, but getting this great resource out to the running community is our main goal. Hope you have a great Wednesday. Time for me to go workout! Mike